In Sunday's edition of The Oregonian, I detailed what many on the Trail Blazers feel is the turning point of the season - an edgy, physical practice on Dec. 1 in San Antonio.

The tone of that practice was set early when Martell Webster and Joel Przybilla got into an altercation, which set off a series of events that included Steve Blake accosting a chair, players trash talking, and eventually, the team understanding that they need to play like they practiced that day. In other words, they needed to beat up the opponent much like they were punishing themselves that day.

One aspect of the story that I didn't get to elaborate on was the aftermath of the Webster/Przybilla tete-a-tete.

After the intense practice had ended, neither Przybilla nor Webster felt good about their blowup with each other.

As the team changed out of their shoes and applied ice bags to their aching knees, Przybilla approached Webster.

"I went and talked to Martell afterward,'' Przybilla remembers. "I came up to him and apologized, and said we shouldn't do that - we are teammates. My first couple of years in the league, I had older guys come at me all the time in practice. But they would never say anything after practice, and for the rest of the season, I was like, 'I don't want to be around this guy'. But I told Martell, 'No hard feelings; let's put it aside'.''

Webster said he appreciated Przybilla's apology.

"It meant a lot,'' Webster said. "I was actually going to go up and apologize to him, but he came up to me that split-second faster ... he was the bigger man.''

Przybilla said there have been no lingering effects of the blowup.

"Martell and I get along great,'' Przybilla said.

I believe both Webster and Przybilla when they say the incident is behind them. I frequently hang out near Przybilla's locker, which is a couple of stalls away from Webster's, and I have never sensed any tension whatsoever between the two.

In fact, I think the way the two handled the situation has strengthened an already strong chemistry on this team. You can be sure that the other players were watching Przybilla talking to Webster after the practice and observing how the two put the blowup behind them. And I know that coach Nate McMillan noticed, because he mentioned to me that he knew everything was fine when he saw Przybilla with his arm around Webster after that practice.

"That's how you build chemistry, anyway,'' Webster said. "You can't have great chemistry and be perfect, you know? You have to go through some ups and downs to make the bond stronger. And that's what happened, it made the bond stronger. Not just between me and Joel, but with everybody.''